JP2005102250A - Method for supplying map information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the load of locating a satellite and arithmetic operations in a receiver for position measurement using a GPS. <P>SOLUTION: A time stamp measured in a user terminal 10 is supplied to a GPS operation server 50 through a base station 20, an exchange station 30, and an access server 40 for calculating the latitude and longitude information of the user terminal 10 in the GPS operation server 50. Additionally, GPS satellites 101-103 to be captured in the user terminal 10 are previously designated by the GPS operation server 50, on the basis of the position of the exchange station 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a map information supply method suitable for use in a portable mobile device of a mobile communication system.

  As a position measurement system in an in-vehicle navigator or the like, a technique generally called GPS is used. In this technology, a plurality of GPS satellites that transmit a “time stamp” of the current time at a predetermined timing are used, and a receiver receives time stamps from a plurality (about 3 to 4) of GPS satellites. . And the position (latitude, longitude, etc.) of a receiver is specified based on the time displayed by the time stamp from each satellite and the reception time of these time stamps.

  Dozens of GPS satellites are arranged on the earth, and due to these orbital periods, normally 8 to 9 satellites are arranged above the positioner. Therefore, in the receiver, all GPS satellites are searched first, and several satellites with strong received electric field strength are selected. Thereafter, the position information is obtained by tracking the time stamp of the selected GPS satellite. In an in-vehicle navigator or the like, map information and the like for various parts of the country are also stored in a memory, and when the position information is specified, the position of the receiver is displayed as an image together with a map of the vicinity.

  Note that GPS is a system originally developed for military use, and information obtained by a private GPS receiver includes an error of about 100 meters at random. Therefore, an error correction process is necessary to obtain an accurate position of the receiver.

  If the same GPS receiver as that of the above-described known vehicle-mounted navigator is mounted on the portable mobile device, the position information can naturally be obtained also in the portable mobile device. However, if a GPS receiver such as an in-vehicle navigator is used as it is, the following various problems occur.

(1) First, in a conventional GPS receiver, it is necessary to first search all GPS satellites and select several satellites with strong received electric field strength. Furthermore, it takes time to obtain the position information based on the obtained time stamp. If such processing is performed in a portable mobile device, the power consumption increases, the continuous use time of the terminal is reduced accordingly, and the device becomes larger.

(2) In addition, as an application for the user of a portable mobile device to confirm his / her position, for example, an application for knowing the route to a target store in an urban area can be considered. The map information to be displayed on the mobile device is required to be detailed in comparison with the map information displayed on the vehicle-mounted navigator or the like. However, since detailed map information requires a large storage capacity, it is not feasible to store all the map information in a portable mobile device.

(3) It is also desirable that the current location of the terminal can be obtained by a third party under certain conditions, such as when the security company wants to capture the client's location or the employer wants to capture the employee's location.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a mechanism capable of supplying a detailed map based on position information.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a terminal, a map database for storing map information, a relay facility for relaying the terminal and the map database, and converting the map information into a format suitable for the relay facility. A map information supply method for supplying map information to the terminal using a conversion device, the process of starting a search for map information based on the information specifying the relay facility, and the position of the terminal A process of measuring, a process of identifying map information based on the measured position, a process of converting the identified map information into a map information format suitable for the relay facility, and supplying the converted map information And a process.

1. Configuration of Embodiment Next, the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a user terminal, in which a GPS receiver 11, a GPS antenna 12, a mobile communication transceiver 14 and a mobile communication antenna 13 are provided.

  A CPU 15 controls the GPS receiver 11 and the transceiver 14 based on a control program stored in the memory 16. Reference numeral 17 denotes an operation / display panel, which includes a keyboard for inputting a telephone number and a display for displaying various information.

  101-103 are GPS satellites, each transmitting a time stamp. These time stamps are received by the GPS receiver 11 via the GPS antenna 12. Reference numeral 20 denotes a base station that exchanges various types of information with the transceiver 14. Reference numeral 30 denotes an exchange, which performs call connection between the user terminal 10 and another terminal.

  The transceiver 14 exchanges audio signals and data signals in the same manner as a normal mobile communication transceiver. In addition to this, the contents of the time stamp received by the GPS receiver 11 and the reception of the time stamp. The time is transmitted to the base station 20. Hereinafter, these pieces of information are referred to as “PR information”.

  Reference numeral 40 denotes an access server, which stores location information (location information on the mobile communication network) of each user terminal, contract information, etc., notifies the necessary information to the exchange 30 and the like, and charges processing for the user terminal 10 I do. Reference numeral 50 denotes a GPS calculation server. When PR information output from the GPS receiver 11 is received via the access server 40, the position (latitude / longitude information) of the user terminal 10 is calculated.

  Reference numeral 60 denotes a map database, which stores map information of various locations in the service area of the mobile communication system of the user terminal 10. Reference numeral 70 denotes a security gateway, which performs authentication or the like when an inquiry about the location information of the user terminal 10 is received from the third party terminal 80.

2. Operation of Embodiment 2.1. Inquiry by the User Next, the operation when the user of the user terminal 10 inquires about location information and the like will be described with reference to FIGS. When the user performs a predetermined operation on the user terminal 10, the process proceeds to step SP101, where a call is made with a telephone number dedicated to the navigation service. The information is notified to the exchange 30 via the base station 20.

  Next, in the switching center 30, step SP102 is executed. Here, a setup signal indicating the start of the navigation service and area information A are supplied to the access server 40. The area information A is information for identifying an area having a size of about “prefecture”. As the area information A, for example, area information for charging the user may be used.

  Next, in step SP103, the latitude / longitude information of the center of the billing area is supplied from the access server 40 to the GPS calculation server 50. Since the billing area is predetermined, the latitude and longitude at the center are known. Therefore, when the area information A is specified, the latitude / longitude information is specified immediately.

  Next, in step SP104, user information (password or the like) is notified from the access server 40 to the exchange 30. In the switching center 30, in step SP105, an authentication request for the user terminal 10 is made based on this user information.

  On the other hand, in the GPS calculation server 50, the process of step SP111 is executed. Here, based on the current position of each GPS satellite and the area information A, a plurality of optimum (a strong electric field strength can be expected) GPS satellites are specified. Next, when the processing proceeds to step SP112 in the GPS calculation server 50, satellite information for specifying the specified GPS satellite (GPS satellites 101 to 103 in the example of FIG. 1) is obtained via the access server 40 and the exchange 30. The user terminal 10 is notified.

  Next, when the process proceeds to step SP113 in the GPS calculation server 50, the area designation information is supplied to the map database 60 based on the area information A. In the map database 60, the process of step SP114 is executed, and preparations for reading map information are made.

  That is, the map database 60 provides map information based on position information of the user terminal 10 itself, which will be described later, but since the map information of all service areas is enormous, the desired map information is accessed from the map information. Takes some time. Therefore, the map information as candidates is narrowed down in advance based on the area information A, and the map information can be immediately provided when the location information of the user terminal 10 is notified later.

  In the user terminal 10, when the authentication request is received in step SP105, the process proceeds to step SP121, and an authentication response to the switching center 30 is performed. This authentication response includes a genuine proof signal and a service request. The authenticity proof signal is a signal for certifying that the user terminal 10 is authentic, and is the same as that used in a known mobile communication system. For example, a password unique to the user terminal 10 or a signal obtained by performing encryption processing on the password is used as the authenticity certification signal.

The service request is a signal that specifies the content of the service requested by the user terminal 10. The contents of the service are specified by the user from the following eight items.
(1) Current position
(2) Current position + map information
(3) Current location + map information + destination
(4) Current position + map information + additional information
(5) Current location + map information + additional information + destination
(6) Map + additional information
(7) Map
(8) Additional information

  Here, “current position” is latitude / longitude information of the user terminal 10, and “map information” is map information near the current position. “Destination” means a target store or event venue. Further, the “additional information” is guidance information on nearby stores and the like.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the authentication response is made after the satellite information is notified, but this may be mixed. The switching center 30 determines whether or not the user terminal 10 is authentic based on the authentication response of the user terminal 10 and reports the result to the access server 40.

  If the user terminal 10 is authentic, the process proceeds to step SP122 in the access server 40, and a service request is transmitted from the access server 40 to the map database 60.

  On the other hand, in the user terminal 10, the process proceeds to step SP123, where the designated GPS satellites 101 to 103 are searched based on the previously supplied satellite information, and the time stamps transmitted from these GPS satellites are received. .

  When these time stamps are received, the process proceeds to step SP124 (FIG. 3). Here, the contents of these time stamps and the respective reception times are supplied as first PR information to the GPS calculation server 50 via the exchange 30 and the access server 40. Next, when the process proceeds to step SP131, the time stamps of the GPS satellites 101 to 103 are received again, similarly to the previous step SP123.

  In the GPS calculation server 50, when the first PR information is supplied, the process proceeds to step SP125, where the latitude / longitude information based on the first PR information is calculated, and the obtained latitude / longitude information is displayed on the map. It is supplied to the database 60. Thereby, the process proceeds to step SP127 in the map database 60, and the map information in a predetermined range centered on the point indicated by the latitude / longitude information is read out.

  Here, the read map information is a range of about several times the range that can be displayed on the operation / display panel 17 of the user terminal 10 (for example, about 1 km square). Next, when the process proceeds to step SP128, the map information is supplied to the user terminal 10 via the access server 40 and the exchange 30.

  On the other hand, in the user terminal 10, when the second satellite search in step SP131 is completed, the process proceeds to step SP132, and the second PR information is transmitted to the GPS arithmetic server 50 via the exchange 30 and the access server 40. Supplied. In the GPS calculation server 50, latitude / longitude information is calculated in the same manner as in the previous step SP125.

  Thereafter, the satellite search similar to step SP131, the PR information supply process similar to step SP132, and the arithmetic process similar to step SP133 are repeated. In the example of FIG. 3, the PR information supply process in step SP132 is performed after the map information is supplied to the user terminal 10 in step SP128. However, this may be mixed.

  In FIG. 4, when the final PR information is supplied to the GPS calculation server 50 (step SP141) and the latitude / longitude information based on the final PR information is calculated (step SP142), the process proceeds to step SP143. Here, smoothing processing (averaging processing) is performed on all the PR information supplied so far, and more accurate latitude / longitude information is obtained.

  Next, when the process proceeds to steps SP144 and SP145, the smoothed latitude / longitude information is supplied to the map database 60 and the user terminal 10. Thereby, the process proceeds to step SP146 in the map database 60, and the route information (current position and destination) and additional information are searched.

  Next, when the process proceeds to step SP147, the obtained route information and additional information are supplied to the user terminal 10 via the access server 40 and the exchange 30. Next, when the process proceeds to step SP148 in the user terminal 10, various information supplied to the user terminal 10 is displayed on the display of the operation / display panel 17.

  An example of the display contents is shown in FIG. In the figure, 201 indicates the range of the map information supplied in step SP128, and 202 indicates the range that can be displayed on the display of the operation / display panel 17. This display range can be scrolled in the vertical and horizontal directions by operating the keyboard of the operation / display panel 17.

A current position display cursor 206 is displayed at a position corresponding to the latitude / longitude information of the current position and indicates the direction to the destination 205. 203 and 204 indicate stores and the like that are displayed based on the additional information.

2.2. Inquiry by Third Party Next, processing when the current position of the user terminal 10 is inquired by a third party will be described with reference to FIGS. In these figures, reference numeral 31 denotes a switching center controller (M-SCP). Such an operation is executed, for example, when the security company wants to capture the position of the client, or when the employer wants to capture the position of the employee.

  In FIG. 6, in step SP 201, an inquiry about the current position of the user terminal 10 is supplied from the third party terminal 80 to the security gateway 70. In the security gateway 70, the process proceeds to step SP202, where authentication is performed as to whether or not the third party terminal 80 is a terminal that can notify the position of the user terminal 10.

  If the authentication is successful, the process proceeds to step SP203, and a call request is supplied to the access server 40. In the access server 40, the switching center where the user terminal 10 is located is searched. Next, in the access server 40, step SP204 is executed, and a request for area information B is supplied to the searched exchange (the exchange 30 in the illustrated example). “Area information B”, like the area information A, is a unique code assigned almost to each prefecture.

  Next, the processing in the switching center 30 proceeds to step SP205, where the area information B is notified to the access server 40. Next, in the access server 40, the process proceeds to step SP206, and the user terminal 10 is called through the exchange 30. Thereby, in the switching center 30 and the user terminal 10, it progresses to step SP230 and both will be in a call connection state.

  On the other hand, when the process proceeds to step SP207 in the access server 40, the latitude / longitude information of the center position of the range of approximately prefecture units is calculated based on the previously supplied area information B. Next, when the process proceeds to step SP208, the latitude / longitude information is supplied to the GPS calculation server 50.

  Next, the process proceeds to step SP209 in the GPS calculation server 50, and satellite information for specifying a plurality of optimum GPS satellites is obtained based on the latitude / longitude information and the current position of each GPS satellite. Next, when the process proceeds to step SP210 (FIG. 7), this satellite information is supplied to the user terminal 10 via the exchange 30.

  Next, when the process proceeds to step SP250, the same processes as those in steps SP121 to SP143 described above are executed. Thereby, the latitude / longitude information of the user terminal 10 is acquired.

  Next, when the processing proceeds to step SP251, the position information (latitude / longitude information of the user terminal 10) is notified from the GPS calculation server 50 to the third party terminal 80 via the access server 40 and the security gateway 70. Is done.

  Next, proceeding to step SP 252, when a disconnection request is supplied from the third party terminal 80 to the security gateway 70, this disconnection request is supplied to the exchange 30 via the access server 40. Thereby, in the switching center 30, a process progresses to step SP253 and the on-hook of the user terminal 10 is performed.

3. Modifications The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, although the area information A is notified from the exchange 30 to the access server 40 in the above embodiment, the identification information of the base station 20 may be notified instead.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the position of the user terminal 10 was calculated in the GPS arithmetic server 50, when there is room in the processing capacity of the user terminal 10, you may perform this calculation in the user terminal 10.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment. It is a flowchart of this embodiment. It is a flowchart of this embodiment. It is a flowchart of this embodiment. 6 is a diagram showing a display example on the operation / display panel 17. It is a flowchart of this embodiment. It is a flowchart of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... User terminal, 11 ... GPS receiver, 12 ... GPS antenna, 13 ... Mobile communication antenna, 14 ... Transceiver, 15 ... CPU, 16 ... Memory , 17 ... Operation / display panel, 20 ... Base station, 30 ... Switching office, 40 ... Access server, 50 ... GPS calculation server, 60 ... Map database, 70 ... Security gateway 80 ... Third party terminal 101-103 ... GPS satellite 201 ... Map information range 202 ... Displayable range 203, 204 ... Store etc. 205 ... -Destination, 206 ... Current position display cursor.

Claims (1)

A terminal, a map database that stores map information, a relay facility that relays between the terminal and the map database, and a conversion device that converts the map information into a format suitable for the relay facility. A map information supply method for supplying map information,
A process of starting a search for map information based on information identifying the relay facility;
Measuring the location of the terminal;
The process of identifying map information based on this measured position,
Converting the identified map information into a map information format suitable for the relay facility;
A method for supplying map information, comprising: supplying the converted map information.

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